There is a cargo carrying vehicle used when cargo is loaded into and unloaded from a cargo hold of an aircraft, for example, in airports. The cargo carrying vehicle is self-propelled and is capable of carrying cargo (housed in a container or loaded on a pallet) while being located adjacent to the loading-unloading port of the cargo hold of the aircraft, and such a cargo carrying vehicle is disclosed, for example, in Patent Literature 1.
The cargo carrying vehicle disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a front platform located closest to the loading-unloading port of the aircraft when the cargo is carried into the aircraft. This front platform is configured to be elevatable by being supported by a scissor link mechanism (which is constituted by allowing rod-shaped bodies extending in oblique directions to intersect each other into an X-shape and is elevatable by changing the intersecting angle of the rod-shaped bodies in the intersecting portion) from below. The cargo is carried into the loading-unloading port through above the front platform together with the container or the pallet. Front and rear rollers capable of carrying the cargo in the front-rear direction with respect to the loading-unloading port project on the upper surface of the front platform, and the cargo is placed on the front and rear rollers to be carried.
Here, depending on the positional relationship between the cargo on the front platform and the loading-unloading port, there may be cases where it is necessary to adjust the position by moving the cargo in the left-right direction. Therefore, a lateral movement mechanism is provided in the front platform. The lateral movement mechanism is normally located below the front and rear rollers and is provided to be vertically movable by being hydraulically driven so as to project upwardly over the front and rear rollers when necessary. The lateral movement mechanism includes left and right rollers configured to rotate so as to be capable of moving luggage in the left-right direction. In the case where it is necessary to move the cargo in the left-right direction, the cargo is placed on the left and right rollers and is lifted from the front and rear rollers by allowing the left and right rollers of the lateral movement mechanism to project upwardly over the front and rear rollers, and then the left and right rollers are rotated to move the cargo in the left-right direction.
However, in the lateral movement mechanism configured as above, it is necessary to lift the cargo from the front and rear rollers, then move the cargo in the left-right direction, and thereafter move the cargo downwardly so as to contact the front and rear rollers, every time when it is necessary to move the cargo in the left-right direction. Such a sequence of actions takes a time, and therefore the working efficiency when carrying cargo is not good.